August 04, 2010

Brevity: The Ragged Riches of the Soul

“Why should anything be hidden?Is it not a mere trick?Why much in little? Why not much in much?Is not understatement a kind of cowardice, or at best miserliness?It is no use talking about suggestiveness or imagination, for this begs the question, which is, why should we (be forced to) imagine what might just as well be displayed in full?When we eat Christmas pudding we are not asked to imagine the raisins – R.H. Blyth, Zen and Zen Classics.

What follows will be a minor sampling of many recordings which end (to varying degrees) soon after beginning. One may already be familiar with pieces such as these, some of which may function as a beginning, ending or segue (with the listener often unaware of its separateness).However, taken away from the comfort of the rest of the album, and taken on their own, what do we have?Are these pieces that certain something—revealing more than their common lengthier counterparts—or are they bereft of that certain something?

The following are meant to highlight an undercurrent that is typically overshadowed. Why pay attention to a short song or segue on an album? Why is it even there? Vanished; just as they came into existence, they may reveal something unable to be communicated by a longer form. It should also be noted that most of these examples are not overly obscure, and nearly everything on this list is currently in print. This is part of the point. If they appear on albums by The Beatles and Neil Young there is a likelihood that they may crop up elsewhere in your collection. Dig through your collection, and see what you find. I would be curious to know what you find in your record collection that seems to embody what is discussed here.

Judge for Yourself:

1: The Incredible String Band - The Son of Noah's Brother (The Big Huge, Elektra, 1969).

Always stuck out on this LP; not a segue really, so what is it?Even in the ISB’s longer pieces (specifically “Creation” and “Be Glad for the Song Has No Ending,” the listener finds many distinct parts within each, appearing briefly, and then being absorbed back into the fabric of the whole.See also “The Yellow Snake” on its brother LP, Wee Tam.

Beautiful rubble. Notice too, some new patterns and tones popping up just moments before the song's ending. Any other piece from this LP follows a similar pursuit of minimal, yet expansive patterns. Lungfish, Asa Osborne’s prior band also excelled in exploring brevity and, perhaps too, the infinite.

In contrast to "Blend II" on side A of the LP, seeing this thin band of music right next to the nearly side-long piece is particularly striking even to the eyes (since you can easily think Blend II is the only track on side A-- yet look closer). Bull then starts off side B with an alternate version of the same piece. He must have had an intuitive grasp of the connection between the longness of "Blend II" and the shortness of Bach's "Gavotte."

Of all the versions she released, though each are beautiful, there is something about this one.Short songs such as this arise from the oral tradition, and though from the same come lengthier and epic pieces, these shorter ones are perhaps more central to being human in their manageability to be recollected.See also Vashti Bunyan (specifically “Lily Pond” as it makes use of part of the melody for “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”

Where does humor fall into brevity? See also: Hurley’s“Old Black Crow.” The personae of animals are featured throughout his albums, listen to his lyrics, and see his artwork; do rats, wolves, geese, owls, penguins and bees know a certain something of brevity? Some of his songs lovingly mimic the sounds made by these animals, perhaps returning to a kind of natural brevity found in the original instrument: the vocal cords.

Surrounding the final lengthy piece on this album are "Devotion I" and I"Devotion II." The two versions sound nearly identical to my ear, only the second perhaps louder and more resonantI chose the former because it is even more faint and nearly vanishing--an element found throughout Florian Fricke’s beautiful music.

A few words of music, a continuous hum with no direction, a nursery rhyme.It’s why I like to say out loud to myself, “How Green Was My Valley” rather than something longer, too inner-ly quarrelsome, and excessive. Too much is just too much. And this is just enough.

Zacharius the noble and learned, as I read it I imagined you speaking it, this illusion brought a flutter of joy and a gilded feather of happiness upon my brow. Besmirch thy daffodils and hearken upon ye mad zephyrs once again!

I'm glad to see Neil's "cripple creek ferry". As a teen i played that short song over and over, somehow wanting it to last longer. Another is "Yours and Mine", a beautiful quiet moment at the end of Fountains of Wayne's underated pop collection "Welcome Interstate Mangers".

From their "Apple O" album. It's one minute and thirty seconds long, but feels a lot more satisfying and complete than many songs which are twice as long. Or three times as long. A very well-structured one minute and thirty seconds.

Thanks to everyone who has commented; I have been out of town and have had little internet access. I will listen to all of your finds when I return home next week.

Two more related additions:

CAN - Pnoom (Delay 1968). 26 seconds of wonder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqcCIlAJkVA

Speaking of Can, Ghost's Masaki Batoh's version of "Yoo Doo Right," originally a vinyl sidelong piece condensed into 2 minutes or so is an amazing thing. You can find his version on the "Collected Works" CD\LP released by Drag City in 2004.